Lost Boys Readjustment Center
by Lil-Brown-wRen
Summary: When Anna runs away from home, she meets Peter Pan and goes to Neverland with him. While there, she discovers things she had never realized about the Lost Boys, and about the pirates.
1. Lost Girl

Anna crouched on the floor of her room, her only light coming from the hall through the crack in her door. She curled into a ball, shaking, listening to her parents fighting.

"But honey, she's six years old! She needs to go to school!"

"Don't tell me how to raise my daughter!" The sound of a slap made Anna flinch. "We don't have the money to send her to school, I've told you that!"

"But-" Another slap, followed by sobbing. Anna could hear her father growling something too low for her to make out. "Alright," her mother conceded in a tear-choked voice. "Alright. I'm sorry, you were right. I'll just... go to bed."

"No!" A shrill screech was followed by a thud. Anna crawled to the door and peeked out to see that her mother was on the floor. Anna's father's hand clutched her mother's hair.

"Daddy!" Anna squeaked. She quickly drew back and tried, unuccessfully, to block out the voices.

"When are you going to grow a backbone?" her father growled. "I didn't intend to marry some wimp who will try to back out of every argument by surrendering."

Maria stifled another sob. 'What, then?' she wanted to ask. 'What do you want me to do? I try to tell you you're wrong, and you beat me. I try to tell you you're right, and you beat me!' "Just tell me what to do," she whimpered.

Rich raised his hand to hit her again, but a small voice stopped him. "Daddy?" Anna stood in the hallway, holding a book like a security blanket. "Daddy, please... read me a bedtime story?"

Maria choked back a cry when she saw Rich glaring at Anna. "Anna... Anna, darling, go to bed. Daddy'll be there soon to read to you."

"No," Rich snarled. "No, I'll tell her a story. How about a story about a little girl who can't mind her own business?" He stood from his crouching position next to Maria and began to advance on Anna. The little girl screamed and backed towards her room.

"Rich, no!" Maria clawed at her husband. "Please! Don't hurt Anna!" Rich threw her off with little trouble, but it delayed him enough for Anna to get back to her room and lock the door.

"Anna!" Rich started down the hall again, but tripped over the book Anna had dropped when she retreated. He picked it up and read the title in disgust. "_Peter Pan_? What is this garbage?"

"It's your daughter's favorite book," Maria told him angrily. She stood behind him, supporting herself against the wall. "Maybe if you did anything with her besides beat her you would know that." Finally having found some courage in her anger and protectiveness of her daughter, Maria advanced on Rich. "And maybe if you didn't spend all of our money on those prostitutes you keep picking up, we could send her to school." Angrily, Rich roared and knocked Maria down and unconscious.

"Anna! Get out here, now!" He pounded on her door. Frightened, Anna looked back from where she sat, her legs hanging out the window.

"No," she whimpered. "No. Please, don't let him break in..." she quickly pushed herself onto the balcony below the window and crouched down, trying not to cry. She had changed from her nightgown into shorts and a t-shirt, and now shivered in the cool night air. _I wish I'd had time to grab shoes, instead of these sandals..._ She had to hold back a shriek when she heard her door burst open.

"Anna! Where are you, you little brat?" her father snarled. The little girl shrunk back into the shadows, huddling in the corner of the balcony. Slowly, as quietly as she could, she stood and started to climb over the railing, stepping carefully onto the drainpipe going around the wall of the house.

_If I can just make it... I can get to the fire escape ladder and get to the roof._ Slowly, inch by inch, she edged along the pipe, trying to ignore the sound of her father tearing apart her room and screaming curses. Finally, she grabbed the nearest rung of the ladder and started climbing. When she made it to the roof, she ran to the center and threw herself down, sobbing. In the distance, she could hear sirens - maybe her mother had regained consciousness and called the police, or maybe they were on their way to stop another abusive father and husband, or maybe it was something totally different. Anna pushed herself to her knees and crawled to the edge of the building opposite her room, looking into the street for a sign of the police.

"ANNA!" Hearing her father roar, Anna turned a little too quickly. She barely had time to register that he seemed to still be in her room before her hand slipped and she fell headfirst off the roof, screaming.

"Whoa there!" Anna felt herself caught in a strong pair of arms and looked up into a pair of brown eyes.

"Peter... Peter Pan?"

The boy looked confused. "Have we met?"

"No," Anna answered as Peter carried her to the roof, "but I've heard your story so many times. I ask my mother to read it to me almost every night."

"Really?" Peter set her down and sat cross-legged in the air facing her. "What were you doing, jumping off the roof?"

"I... I didn't jump, I fell. I was trying to get away from my father."

"Where's your mother?"

"She's still there with him." Anna looked down at her lap. "He was hurting her, and then he was gonna hurt me, so I came up here. And then I fell."

"So you need somewhere to go?" Anna nodded, and Peter stood, though he was still a few inches above the roof. "Great! Then come to Neverland!"

"Really?" Anna scrambled to her feet.

"Sure, why not?" Peter answered. "It's a great refuge for people whose parents don't want them or care about them."

"Oh, but my mommy still loves me," Anna said self-assuredly.

"Really?" Peter crossed his arms. "Then why isn't she looking for you?"

"She..." Anna faltered. "I don't know... maybe she is! Maybe she didn't know I'd come to the roof, and she's looking for me on the ground!"

"We could check." Peter whistled, and Tinkerbell flew up next to him.

Anna nodded. As Tinkerbell flew over her, she felt warmed by the falling pixie dust. _Mommy still loves me... we're gonna go to Neverland and get away from Daddy!_ She felt light, and looked down to see that the rooftop was a few feet below her. "Whoa... I'm flying!" She flew in a loop for sheer joy. She looked down to see Peter below her, and flew down to him. "Come on! Let's look in the window!" She flew to the edge of the roof and looked back. Peter was laughing. "Come on!" she beckoned, before dropping out of sight.

Feeling exhilarated, Anna zigzagged back and forth across the street a few times before going to look in her bedroom window. Her room looked like her father had trashed it, but no one was in there now. She moved to the living room window - it was empty, too.

"No one's there." Anna would have jumped, if she had ground to jump from. She turned to Peter, who had flown down behind her.

"I know... maybe she's out looking for me." Anna flew back to her room, where the window was still open. Quietly, she flew in and into the hall, to her parents room. It was dark; she paused to let her eyes readjust. Peering into the darkness, she saw two shapes under the covers in the bed. "Mama?" she squeaked quietly. One of the forms, on the side she knew her mother slept on, stirred and moaned softly. _She... she went to bed? With him?_ She flew quickly out of the room and back out to Peter.

"Did you find her?" he asked, not noticing her hurt expression until she looked up into his face.

"Peter, let's go!" she said tearily. "Please, take me to Neverland!"

Inside, Maria sat up slowly. "Anna?" She put a hand to her head; it hurt like crazy. _I thought I heard Anna..._ She moaned again, trying to remember what had happened. She looked at Rich, and could tell that he was knocked out drunk. "Probably barely made it to bed," she muttered. She swung her feet over the side and stood, pulling on a silky robe. She walked down the hall into the kitchen, and saw a broken glass beer bottle lying on the floor. She remembered trying to call the police, but nothing afterwards. _Rich must have hit me from behind and knocked me out..._ She gasped. "Anna!" She ran down the hall to her daughter's room. It was trashed, but empty. The window was open. She ran to it and looked out, staring around wildly. She clambered over the windowsill, onto the balcony. She clutched the rail, searching the sidewalk for a sign of her daughter, and even, for a crazy moment, the sky. "ANNA!" Maria screamed her daughter's name into the empty night.


	2. Welcome Party

"Oh wow, it's beautiful!" Anna was perched on the arm of a star, gazing at the city beneath her. Peter was reclining on the arm on the other side of the star, his hands behind his head, one leg swinging in the air, and Tinkerbell was poised on the top of the star, looking like she was part of it. "Is this Neverland?"

"What? No way! Neverland is much better than this." Sitting up, Peter gestured to the scene below them. "No forests or lakes, no adventure, just too many people in too little space. Neverland's got sparkling water and plenty of space. We're just taking a break, you looked pretty tired."

"Yeah..." Anna tried to stifle a yawn. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day. And I'm not used to flying," she added sheepishly, remembering the loop-de-loops she'd been flying in before and thinking of how they must have wasted her energy. She looked around at the land beneath her - the buildings crammed close together, lights in the windows blinking and winking at her. Not too far away, she could see the park her mother took her to when they needed to get out of the house. The city blocks and streets intersecting them looked like a large checkorboard, and Anna had a hard time imagining what would be used for playing pieces. UFOs maybe?

Peter cleared his throat suddenly. Anna snapped out of her reverie and looked over at him. He was standing on his arm of the star now, leaning against the peak with his arms crossed. "Hate to rush you," he said, not sounding sincere, "but this is only the _first_ star to the right. We need to get to the second, and go straight on from there until-"

"Until morning, right?" Anna interrupted wearily. She carefully got to her feet, leaning on the side of the star for support. "Okay, let's keep going!" She shakily pushed off of the star, flapping her arms a bit to steady her flight. Peter soared down beside her, pointing to another star in front of them.

"That's where we're headed," he called out. Being the faster, and more experienced flier, he soon pulled ahead of Anna. Tinkerbell did the same, sticking her tongue out tauntingly at the girl. Slightly taken aback, Anna chalked this up to the fairy's normal sassy personality. As they approached the second star, Anna wondered if they would rest again; it was late in the night, or maybe early in the morning, depending on how you thought of it, and either way they'd been flying for hours and little girls do need sleep at some point. Peter, however, flew right past the star, and Anna had no choice but to follow with a sigh. Her eyelids grew heavy, and Peter pulled further and further ahead. The poor girl stretched her arms out in front of her and concentrated on keeping up and staying awake. Her eyes started closing involuntarily, and as she struggled to keep them open, she felt herself dipping in the sky.

Suddenly, Anna plunged into a cloud. It felt like diving into a pool full of very thick fog instead of normal water. Anna's eyes snapped open, and with a gasp she rose out of the cold, wet fluff. Wisps of cloud clung to her like light cotton candy. She shook her head and limbs a bit, and flew after Peter with renewed vigor. Looking ahead, she saw the sun starting to peek over the horizon, and had to look away from its glaring brightness. Shielding her eyes and blinking, she crashed into Peter, who had stopped to wait for her.

"Oof!" She somersaulted backwards away from him, then lifted her still-sopping bangs out of her eyes with one hand. "Why did we stop?"

Peter took a moment to catch his breath - the collision had knocked the air out of him. Then he pointed ahead of them, towards the rising sun. "We're here. It's morning," he pointed out.

Anna blinked and looked at the land below her. Instead of the congested city, she saw crystal blue water, sandy beaches, a thick forest of trees, and off the the distance, she could see smoke rising over what she assumed was an Indian camp. "Wow," she breathed, "Neverland!" Seeing Peter sit cross-legged on a cloud below them, she warily lowered herself next to him and found that this time, the cloud held her. Instead of being cold and wet, this one was soft and fluffy - she decided maybe it was because the first cloud had been in her world, and this was in Neverland.

Lying on her stomach on the cloud, Anna peered over the edge and spotted a ship floating offshore. She took a closer look, wondering if it was a pirate ship, and noticed that it was flying a white flag. She pointed this out to Peter.

"Alright! The pirates are surrendering!" He leaped up excitedly. "Come on, Tink! Anna, you stay here - I'm gonna go negotiate terms of surrender!"

Anna stood and pulled on his sleeve before he could fly off. "Peter, be careful!"

"Ah, don't worry," he assured her, "I'll be back in a jiffy. Those codfish can't touch me!" As he flew off, he didn't notice the small boat making its way towards them from the main ship.

---A few minutes earlier---

"Ohhh, a pirate's life is a wonderful life..." Smee sang softly to himself as he went about mopping the deck. He glanced up, chuckling at the white flag flying above him. "The plan's sure to work, Cap'n. When Pan gets back, he'll come down to negotiate terms, and then we'll ambush 'im!"

Hook laughed as well. "The poor lad will probably be unarmed - he never bothers to protect himself when he goes to look for Lost Boys!" He lounged on a chair on the deck, his sword glinting as he idly twirled it back and forth from the hilt. A door to below decks was slightly ajar, and the pirate captain knew that the majority of his crew was waiting right behind it, weapons in hand, for when Peter Pan arrived.

"Cap'n!" Smee shouted out suddenly, pointing towards the horizon. Two forms, indistinguishable from this distance, had appeared, and were now hovering over a cloud. "It's him - and he's got a Lost Boy with 'im!"

Hook leaped to his feet. "Blast! Then he has backup!" He thought quickly, then ran to the side of the ship and leaned over, calling desperately to the pirates who were waiting in a lifeboat, in case they were needed later. "You there! Quickly! You see where Pan is now! Navigate yourselves directly under that spot, and when we shoot down the Lost Boy, catch him and bring him here as a hostage! Understand?" The pirates nodded and began to row away from the ship.

---

Anna watched nervously as Peter flew away from her, then lay back down on the cloud. She watched as Peter approached the ship, but before he landed, her eyes shut and she finally drifted off into her much-needed sleep.

Suddenly, she was awoken by a loud booming noise. Her eyes snapped open, and she barely had time to notice the cannonball zooming towards her before it flew under the cloud - it was aimed just barely beneath her. As it was, Anna was not hit, but the cloud disappated beneath her and she screamed as she found herself plummeting towards the water below. She found herself falling headfirst, and straightened out as well as she could. She held her arms out above - below, rather - her head in a diving position. She closed her eyes - they were watering anyway - and waited for the impact. Below her, on the surface of the water, a small group of pirates scrambled around in the boat, reaching out in an attempt to catch her. Finally, she plunged into reach, and one of the crewmates was able to grab her. Anna's momentum carried both of them into the water, pulling her captor over the side of the boat. He let go of her so that he could use his arms, and they both kicked desperately for air. Spluttering, they broke the surface of the ocean. Anna could taste the salty droplets on her lips.

As the pirate climbed, grumbling, over the side of the boat, Anna was enclosed in a strong pair of arms and pulled up before she had a chance to catch her breath. Somewhere between falling off the cloud, and being pulled out of the water, she had started sobbing, and now took in the scene around her, from the tattooed arms gripping her, to the frightening faces leering at her. She hiccuped, staring around at them with wide, reddened eyes. "W... where am I?" she squeaked. "Who are you?"

The pirates laughed at her. One of them spoke up. "Dry yer tears, lad, and calm down. Ye sound like a girl when you squeak like that."

"But..." Anna was confused. She wiped at her tears. "But I _am_ a girl..."

The pirates' laughs died quickly, and they looked at each other nervously.

"Now what do we do?"

"The cap'n wants us to bring her back."

"Nay, the cap'n wants us to bring a Lost _Boy_ back."

"But he told us to bring him this one!"

"Are ye daft? We can't bring a female aboard, it's bad luck."

"But we can't go back without 'er or the cap'n'll 'ave our 'eads!"

"Aye, he'd be more'n willing to feed us to th' gator, get his own taste out of it's mouth."

"So what do we do?"

"We stick to the plan," spoke the pirate holding Anna. She twisted around to look up at him. He had a dragon tattooed on one of his thick, muscly arms, and five little golden hoops, three in one ear and two in the other. The top of his head was bald but he had a rough, stubbly black beard. "You there, give me your bandanna." The pirate who had originally caught her untied a red bandanna from his arm and handed it over. It was soon tied as a gag, preventing Anna from making more than muffled mumbling sounds as she choked on the salty water taste. She was still held tightly as the pirate who had taken charge directed another to tear a rag from the bottom of his shirt, which was used to tie the girl's hands together behind her back. Her eyes darted around fearfully as a length of rope was produced, cut from the rope holding the anchor, and her feet her bound. She was dumped unceremoniously in the bottom of the boat as it started moving back towards the main ship.

//AN: So here's Chapter 2, I hope you enjoy it! Some notes on this chapter:

In case it's not clear, the star on which Peter and Anna rest is a 5-pointed star, like the kind you would draw.

Although Peter and Anna are "indistinguishable from this distance," Hook and Smee know it's them, because who else would it be?

I'm aware that if you actually fell into any body of water from the height of a cloud, you would probably be killed by the impact alone, but I'm not going to kill my main character in chapter 2. Make up whatever excuse you want to explain it, but don't tell me I don't know physics.

I had actually meant to carry this on for a while, but then I got to this point and was like, "Wow, I just ended a chapter without meaning to." Like actually, I feel like as I was writing the story kept taking itself in different directions, and then just kinda closed up, and if I had continued like I meant to it would have felt kinda draggy, like, "I thought it was over, why is there more?" So, the overall title isn't quite explained yet, and it'll be a while before it is, but you're just going to have to hang in there for a while.


End file.
